Vincent Spano Movies

The reclusive former head of a Fortune 500 company descends ever deeper into the abyss of insanity, ultimately becoming unable to discern whether his paranoia concerning his estranged wife is founded in fact, or just the bitter delusion of a fractured psyche. Jonathan Hollis (Judd Nelson) used to be an influential business magnate; these days he's withdrawn into his childhood home, a social recluse seemingly intent on dragging his wife down into the darkness, too. He's forced his wife Lydia to say goodbye to the New York social scene in favor of withering away in his crumbling castle, and when Jonathan begins to suspect that her resentment has turned malicious, he recruits his old pal Devlin to discern whether Lydia is attempting to make him look insane so she can abscond with his fortune. Has Jonathan's deep-seated greed finally gotten the best of him, or is Lydia really the manipulative mastermind that he's come to see her as? A Devlin goes to work sorting the facts from the paranoid delusions, Jonathan begins to question the loyalties of everyone around him while being drawn ever deeper into a deadly game of cat and mouse. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A poor boy who spends most his spare time playing stickball in the streets suddenly finds himself returning volleys to his butler in this contemporary take on the classic Mark Twain tale starring Cole and Dylan Sprouse. Running away to the east side in his chauffer-driven limousine, thirteen year old Matthew hatches an ingenious identity-switch scheme after running into his spitting image - a fun-loving inner city youth named Jeff. Intent on making his mother pay for a series of minor infractions he may have been responsible for while studying at an ultra-posh boy's academy, Matthew sends Jeff to live with his self-made millionaire mother as he prepares to spend Spring Break with his new stepfather and two stepsisters. While Jeff is dumbfounded to discover that stores actually sell clothes that have never been worn before, Matthew is thrilled to take the field for his first rain-soaked baseball game. Yet despite the fun these two kids have on the opposite side of the social spectrum, they quickly learn that life just isn't the same when you can't go home to your true loved ones. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Originally titled Echoes, this made-for-cable drama is set in Napa Valley wine country, sometime in the 1980s. Patricia Heaton (who also produced the film) stars as Sara, the daughter of strong-willed vineyard owner Alicia Anselmi (Lainie Kazan). Hoping to arrange a merger between Alicia and rival vintner Nick Di Cenzo (Tony Lo Bianco), Sara must first overcome the bitter 40-year-feud between ex-sweethearts Alicia and Nick, which began when each seemingly jilted the other during WW2. The delivery of a long-lost engagement ring proves beyond doubt that Nick had intended to marry Alicia, but evidently this does little to alleviate their mutual animosity. And when it appears that Sara intends to dump her fiancé Brian (David Hunt) in favor of Nick's nephew Tony (Vincent Spano), Alicia and Nick are all the more convinced that any merger between the Anselmi and DiCenzo families--even a merger that never comes to fruition--will result only in heartache for all concerned. The Engagement Ring originally aired over the TNT cable network on November 28, 2005. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Tom Whitus' thriller Dead Silence begins with when Rachel Pressman (Daveigh Chase) sees a murder. Cop Steve Banks (Vincent Spano) and psychiatrist Dr. Julie Craig (Kristy Swanson) are former lovers, and they are responsible for keeping Rachel safe and helping her testify. The murder, however, appears to be part of a complicated conspiracy involving powerful politicians. Soon, it becomes apparent that the girl's life is more endangered than anyone realized. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Initially titled The Colony, this made-for-TV thriller offers the nightmarish scenario of thousands upon thousands of verminous rats swarming over a posh Manhattan department store. Inevitably, the dirty rodents threaten the entire city, and it is up to such hardy souls as hero Jack (Vincent Spano) and heroine Susan (Madchen Amick) to prevent this catastrophe. As The Rats, the film was originally slated for broadcast on September 17, 2001. For reasons that should be obvious, the Fox Network felt it would be more diplomatic to shelve the film for a while--for 367 days, to be exact, so it would not appear to be a tasteless exploitation of the first "9.11" anniversary. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Bored with her dead-end existence in a small Iowa town, neurotic Janet Flanders (Jordan Ladd) retreats into the rarefied world of romance novels. Her dreams of being swept off her feet by a handsome young prince seem to come true when Chicago businessman Brett Becker (Vincent Spano) enters her life. Alas, Brett already has a bride -- but this won't stop the unhinged Janet from dreaming, or from taking violent action to fulfill those dreams. What starts out as something fine and beautiful degenerates into a sordid murder trial, with attorney Evelyn MacInnis (Holland Taylor of The Practice fame) taking a pivotal hand in the matter. Made for cable, The Deadly Look of Love originally aired July 10, 2000 on the Lifetime network. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In the third installment of the series that began with The Prophecy, the Angel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) has taken up residence on Earth, where he's learned to enjoy the simple pleasures of life among humans, such as frosted doughnuts and driving a convertible. One night, he witnesses Danyael (Dave Buzzotta), a heretic preacher with a storefront church who tells his flock that God doesn't care much for the people who tend the Earth. A blind man (Brad Dourif) who claims to hear the voice of God shoots Danyael several times in the chest. However, several hours after he's pronounced dead, Danyael rises from his slab at the morgue and heads out into the street. Maggie (Kayren Ann Butler), his understandably upset girlfriend, is then approached by Zouhael (Vincent Spano), a fallen angel who needs Danyael for his own evil purposes. It seems that Danyael is half human and half angel, and both Gabriel and Zouhael want his help. A Spirit of genocide and destruction is about to rise on a Native American reservation, and if Gabriel is going to stop it -- or Zouhael is going to bring it forward -- they will need Danyael's guidance. Prophecy 3: The Ascent marked the directorial debut of Patrick Lussier, who has often worked as an editor for horror director Wes Craven. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The double trauma of seeing his wife Vivian (Gail O'Grady) walk out on him and having his government funding eliminated causes nuclear scientist Rogers Henry (John Glover) to go off the deep end. But Vivian doesn't know about her husband's insanity when she agrees to deliver what she thinks is his model of a thermonuclear device called Medusa to the Pentagon. Nor do charter pilot Scott Nash (Vincent Spano) and researched Linda McCoy (Lori Laughlin) suspect anything amiss when Vivian boards Scott's plane en route to Washington. Only when the plane is aloft is it discovered that the "model" is a genuine bomb that has armed itself and will explode should it be taken any more than fifteen feet away from Vivian, whose pacemaker is the bomb's "control." Even worse: There's a hurricane threatening Washington, and the plane is unable to land--and someone on board requires emergency heart surgery! Based on the best selling novel by John J. Nance (who appears in a cameo role), the two-part TV movie Medusa's Child first aired November 16 and 20, 1997, on ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this exciting effort, the designer of a powerful supercomputer is threatening to launch World War III and only one maverick agent and a Russian computer hacker have the skills to stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Produced by the same team that bankrolled the hit The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, this violent domestic thriller is often compared to that mega-hit. Screenwriter Wesley Strick made his directorial debut with this script by Michael Auerbach. Vincent Spano and Moira Kelly are Russell and Dana Clifton, a successful but childless yuppie couple who adopt a mesmerizing young girl named Janie (Julia Devin). Janie has suicidal tendencies, however -- she walks out into crowded streets, keeps a butcher knife under her bed, and sometimes cuts herself. She also has psychotic white-trash parents, John and Leann Netherwood (Keith Carradine and Daryl Hannah). The Netherwoods are crooks forced to give up their daughter, but once released from jail, they are intent on getting her back. They kill an adoption agency worker and a police officer as part of their vendetta, terrorizing the suburban town as they target the Cliftons in their all-out war for the return of Janie. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi

This is the first mainstream film to deal with the harrowing true story of a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes mountains in October of 1972 and who were forced to resort to cannibalism to survive more than two months of isolation. (The only other film to tackle the subject, Rene Cardona's Survive! was a seedy little mess that delighted in exploiting the cannibalism aspect.) The events depicted are primarily based on the novel of the same name by Piers Paul Read. The interview-style prologue features an uncredited John Malkovich as one of the survivors, whose spiritual ruminations on the disaster kick off the film's main action. We are briefly introduced to the characters before disaster strikes, in the film's most horrifying set-piece -- the depiction of the crash in grueling detail. The handful of survivors who manage to extricate themselves from the twisted wreckage seem incapable of working through their panic as they hope against all odds that a rescue party will locate them. One of the survivors, Nando (Ethan Hawke), awakens from a coma and makes a remarkable recovery -- enough to demonstrate level-headed leadership after team captain Antonio (Vincent Spano) begins to lose his nerve. As the weeks wear on and rations are depleted, the survivors are forced into a moral dilemma: the only remaining source of food seems to be the bodies of the dead. Those who choose for religious reasons not to consume their former companions must face the realization that they will soon starve or freeze to death. In the end, three men who choose survival above all else find the strength to set out on a treacherous mission to a ridge, where hopefully one of them will make it to civilization. Director Frank Marshall infuses the proceedings with sufficient intensity to keep the story moving, but the film fails to fully explore the often-recounted spiritual aspects of the ordeal as established in the opening monologue. Ironically, the writers' apparent attempts to remain true to Read's account of events -- resulting in some rather odd stretches of dialogue -- impede the drama even more than the Hollywood glamorization of the story's nominal "heroes," who remain rugged and handsome despite months of malnutrition and severe frostbite. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi

This riveting, fact-based made-for-cable drama follows the fight of Air Force widow Janet Harduvel to clear the name of her late husband, a pilot who died when his F-16 crashed. The official cause of the mishap was listed as "pilot error," but Harduvel refuses to believe this and so launches her own investigation. She soon discovers that the problem was with the plane itself and that the Air Force is trying very hard to conceal crucial facts. Despite the bureaucracy and obstacles, the determined widow continues fighting until she finds herself facing down a major military contractor, General Dynamics, in court. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sylvester Stallone gives comedy another try in this farce set in the 1930s. Angelo "Snaps" Provelone (Stallone) is the wealthy and powerful head of the Chicago mob, but his ailing father (Kirk Douglas) doesn't approve of his life in crime, and on his deathbed, Dad makes Snaps promise to go straight. Determined to honor his late father's wishes, Snaps decides to go into banking -- just as his life has fallen into chaos. Anthony Russano (Vincent Spano) informs Snaps that he's hijacked $50,000 of his money and wants to marry his daughter. Snaps discovers that his daughter Lisa (Marisa Tomei) is actually involved with the chauffeur, Oscar (Jim Mulholland), but Anthony's girlfriend Theresa (Elizabeth Barondes) has convinced her beau that Snaps is her father. Snaps hopes to use this misunderstanding as a way of getting his money back, but in the meantime, he has to deal with a wary banking board, rival mob boss Vendetti (Richard Romanus), prissy elocution coach Thornton (Tim Curry), and Snaps' one-time girlfriend Roxanne (Linda Gray). Oscar's stellar supporting cast includes Don Ameche, Chazz Palminteri, Harry Shearer, Eddie Bracken, Yvonne DeCarlo, and Bruce Davison. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi